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Superior Police Department spends 733K for a MRAP

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  • #16
    Monash, and yet police departments around the country are lining up for these things including at least 2 in Arkansas.

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    • #17
      But what is the rationale behind choosing MRAPs instead of up-armored civilian vehicles? MRAPs are not only the rifle-proof armored vehicle options and the capabilities of the V-shaped hull is basically wasted on American cities, while the police departments operating them must deal with their drawbacks (I don't want to ever see Chicago Police Department cops driving those monsters in winter). If the DoD is giving them away I can see low cost being the attraction.
      All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful.
      -Talmud Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16.

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      • #18
        If the DoD is giving them away I can see low cost being the attraction.

        You answered your own question.

        Surplus to military needs.
        “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
        Mark Twain

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Monash View Post
          Z,
          I think we have discussed this topic before. MRAPS are effectively being given away for free to local US law enforcement. In urban environments the number of times they can be usefully deployed will be strictly limited given current rate of the 'high intensity' violent crime that would warrant their deployment in the US. Local LEAs would have to suspect in advance that their deployment was warranted before deploying them during search warrant execution, failing that it would require a siege situation to warrant the cost. They mightt get more use in rural settings where they have room to maneuver but not much more. Give one to every fifth county PD in the US to be shared around with their immediate neighbor counties in an emergency and they would still end up gathering dust most of the time.

          Bottom line is MRAPS cost money to run and most cash strapped local PDs would have to be given one for free before they would even consider deploying them. The US could offer every Police force in the country spare M1A1s or C130s and the story would be the same. Capital assets like this are only usefull as long as their utility outweighs their acquisition and operating costs.
          Yes, we did: http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/ame...eed-these.html
          "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Stitch View Post
            What a dark place that was!!!

            But is was nice to read some of Whiskie's comments again.

            I miss my old friend.
            “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
            Mark Twain

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
              What a dark place that was!!!

              But is was nice to read some of Whiskie's comments again.

              I miss my old friend.
              Same here. Almost an year.
              No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

              To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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              • #22
                Yes we did have that conversation, but I was then under the impression that they would be decent high water vehicles, they are not.

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by zraver View Post
                  Monash, and yet police departments around the country are lining up for these things including at least 2 in Arkansas.
                  Yes but as noted before that's because they are being offered for free. Since local PDs don't have to pay the acquisition cost of the asset, just the operating expenses they can afford to take one on spec. Moreover given those operating and maintenance costs are undoubtedly the equivalent of at least 4 or 5 standard GD patrol cars they will almost certainly spend most of their time in the police garages under a dust cloth. No doubt they will be wheeled out for things like Veterans Day parades and the Police display at local count fairs but excluding training ops and the rare tactical deployment they won't see the light of day.

                  If Homeland Security was offering these things at anywhere near the market value we probably wouldn't even have this thread because so few PDs would be interested. Long story short the DoD overestimated how many they would need for Iraq and Afghanistan (either that or the manufacturers greased the wheels in Washington) and now they have to off-load them in a way that looks even vaguely plausible to voters. Your tax dollars at work.
                  If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by Monash View Post
                    Yes but as noted before that's because they are being offered for free. Since local PDs don't have to pay the acquisition cost of the asset, just the operating expenses they can afford to take one on spec. Moreover given those operating and maintenance costs are undoubtedly the equivalent of at least 4 or 5 standard GD patrol cars they will almost certainly spend most of their time in the police garages under a dust cloth. No doubt they will be wheeled out for things like Veterans Day parades and the Police display at local count fairs but excluding training ops and the rare tactical deployment they won't see the light of day.

                    If Homeland Security was offering these things at anywhere near the market value we probably wouldn't even have this thread because so few PDs would be interested. Long story short the DoD overestimated how many they would need for Iraq and Afghanistan (either that or the manufacturers greased the wheels in Washington) and now they have to off-load them in a way that looks even vaguely plausible to voters. Your tax dollars at work.
                    In fact, a majority of the "surplus" MRAP's in Afghanistan are going to be disposed of in-country; the DoD has decided it's too expensive to ship a bunch of MRAP's back to the States, so they will be destroyed/scrapped/sold in Afghanistan. I'm guessing the MRAP's that the DoD are giving away are the ones that didn't make it onto a ship before the draw-down in A-stan.

                    This NPR segment is almost a year old, but not much has changed since then:

                    U.S. Army To Scrap $7 Billion In Equipment In Afghanistan : The Two-Way : NPR
                    "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by Zad Fnark View Post
                      I can attest...
                      ....................
                      I'm surprised Superior, of all places is getting one. Nothing significant happens there. I wasted 9 years of my life living there after high school.
                      ...................
                      Ed-
                      Well, that kind of thinking sort of makes one an ideal target. What reduces the odds of one being a target is the foe knowing that it won't be an easy hit.

                      Looking at Wiki alone, it doesn't seem like it would be high on the selection for primary targeting (not sure how it would rank for a Beslan situation)......but anything could serve as a diversionary to a primary. Especially when a foe doesn't have to waste that much effort, of his resources, to draw attention to the secondary while he moves on the primary.

                      Mind you, I am talking just from the standpoint to counter the line of thought "We have nothing to protect here!". Whether or not someone needs this or that is another discussion that goes back and forth.
                      Last edited by Tamara; 28 May 14,, 16:38.

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